The PeaceNiche/T2F Board and Team are reaching out to friends and supporters for new ideas and suggestions for sustaining and reinvigorating T2F in face of mounting challenges.T2F’s temporary closure of activities was announced on June 2021, amid organizations, venues and interactive spaces across the world staggering under the crisis Covid-19 presented. While online transmissions of previous programs continue on social media platforms, we want to use this hiatus for stocktaking and developing new approaches.

T2F is no stranger to working through great adversity. The death of its visionary founder Sabeen Mahmud brought T2F to its knees, and there was some discussion of closing it down. However, in honour of Sabeen’s memory, and in recognition of the importance of the T2F space as a site for cultural production and democratic exchange, it was felt that the legacy must continue. It has been an overwhelming baton to carry. The traumatic, jarring transition led to understandable disquiet.

Many felt that T2F cannot survive. The T2F team, under the guidance of the Board has attempted to sustain the organization’s creative and progressive vision. The Board has struggled with the organization’s administrative and financial viability. Some board members have kept it afloat with personal donations over the past four years. Even the salaries and benefits of the T2F 12 full time employees, the administrative and operations expenses were made possible from these donations. Funding from institutions and local donations reduced considerably due to government’s control regulations. The revenues from the Café, gallery rentals and tickets on programs, which had a high contribution to the budget came to a trickle, during Covid. The pandemic closures, restrictions on public gatherings, and surge of online interactions organized by many other institutions made it unviable to keep T2F functioning in the immediate term. This state of unsustainability has to be addressed.

The T2F Board wishes to turn to T2F supporters to help rethink and re-strategize its approach to viability. There is no dearth of content. Events and gifted individuals in the fields of visual and performing arts, creativity and critical thinking will remain the mainstay of T2F. We are taking this period of temporary closure of physical activities during Covid to rethink and re-evaluate the visionary, financial and administrative challenges facing the future of T2F by engaging in a process of multifaceted consultations in order to come up with viable solutions to these challenges. Hopefully, after this process of rethinking and re-evaluation, T2F will reemerge as a vibrant, creative and viable organization. We need your support, now, more than ever. We would appreciate if you could share your suggestions at info@peaceniche.org.

In Solidarity,

The Board of Directors of Peace Niche/T2f.

July 26th, 2021